HAMILTON and District Cricket Association (HDCA) Hurricanes teams have completed the first week of the junior representative season with tough campaigns for both the Under-17 and Under-15 squads.

The Under-17s travelled to Warrnambool for the annual carnival and despite the side featuring loads of talent, it failed to claim a victory in what turned out to be a very tough draw.

After playing Horsham on Monday in round one where the Hurricanes went down by 47 runs in a rain-shortened 25-over match, the side arrived at Avery’s Paddock set for a full day of play against South West.

The opposition chose to bat first after winning the toss and the Hurricanes struggled to split the openers, who added 39 for the first wicket.

The introduction of Eli Hunter into the attack paid immediate dividends for the Hurricanes, as he grabbed two wickets in as many balls to turn the tide of the innings.

The third wicket stand had reached 57 when Cooper Edmonds swooped on the ball and his throw generated another wicket.

From 2-96, South West lost 8-96 as Riley Casey grabbed four wickets for 26 runs to be the best of the Hurricanes bowlers.

South West was eventually all out for 192.

After the lunch break, the early wicket of Oliver Foster (two) gave George Huf (42) and Eddie McShane (36) the chance to add 68 for the second wicket, but McShane was run out with the score on 70 and from there the Hurricanes lost 9-55, as the batting order failed to build on the solid foundation provided by Huf and McShane.

Wednesday saw the carnival switched to the T20 format with the Hurricanes back at Avery’s Paddock for the second straight day where they faced Warrnambool Blue.

The home side won the toss and sent the Hurricanes into bat where four of the top five batsmen posted double figures without any of them going on with their innings.

Huf (17), McShane (14), Hammish Shipcott (13), and Isaac Shaw (11) all made starts, but were all back in the pavilion without going on to post a score, while Will Legoe (12-not-out) added late order runs to lift the final tally to 9-98 from the 20 overs.

In reply, the home side had no trouble knocking off the required target, losing only one wicket in the chase, as the Hurricanes delivered too many wides and no balls which proved costly.

The Hurricanes had the bye in the afternoon timeslot which gave the side plenty of time to recover and prepare for the round five clash at Jones Oval against Warrnambool Gold.

McShane won the toss and elected to bat first, but the first eight players in the order failed to score more than eight runs to see the Hurricanes reduced to be 8-54 in the 23rd over.

Shipcott and Casey did their best to guide the team to a competitive score with 18 runs each, but the final wicket fell with the score on 96.

Warrnambool Gold started the run chase positively, with five of the top six batsmen scoring 20 or more, as the team went on to reach 181 all out.

Liam Tonissen was the standout with three wickets from his spell of bowling.

The team was scheduled to face Wimmera Mallee in a T20 on Friday at Jones Oval to complete its campaign.

Under-15

HAMILTON District Cricket Association sent two Under-15 teams to Horsham this week, with the Hurricanes Green team being the development team that will form the core of next summer’s team, and the Hurricanes Gold side.

With Monday’s wet weather washing out all games, Hurricanes Green had a bye on Tuesday while Hurricanes Gold travelled to Minyip Recreation Reserve to battle Horsham.

The Hurricanes won the toss and sent Horsham in to bat and the opening batsmen adding 70 for the first wicket, but with the partnership eventually broken, a further two wickets were snaffled for only five runs after Myles Alderman and Levi Templeton struck for the Hurricanes.

Horsham recovered from 3-75 to finish with a final score of 224, although the Hurricanes did dismiss the opposition inside the 46th over, with Alderman (3-30) being the best of the bowlers, while Hayden Phillips and Will Bourke grabbed a brace of wickets each in support.

The loss of early wickets hampered the Hurricanes’ run chase, but Templeton came in at number three and struck a fine 81 to top score, along with assistance from George Clark (25) and Tom Templeton 26) in guiding the team to tally of 177.

Wednesday saw both teams in action with the Green side running into a very strong Mount Gambier outfit that simply was a class above their opposition all week long.

After celebrating an early wicket, the Hurricanes chased leather for rest of the innings, as the opposition racked up 4-292 including an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 175 from only 132 balls.

The Hurricanes, being a development squad, was very long odds of hunting down the target, but the players can take heart and be very proud that they managed to bat out the full 50 overs to finish with 9-172.

Billy Rhook (20), Harry Mercer (22) and Chad Logan (25-not-out) all reached 20 or more to build confidence for the rest of the week.

Hurricanes Gold were drawn against Warrnambool Gold in the feature match in the round which was played as a day-night game at City Oval under lights.

Warrnambool won the toss and elected to bat in the natural light and the Hurricanes hunted in a pack to restrict the score to 162, as Will Bourke (2-13) and Levi Templeton (2-26) led the way with the ball.

Batting under artificial light is not something many of the Hurricanes have experienced and with four players registering ducks, the side struggled with the team all out for 105.

Grady Bell was a shining light, top scoring with 32.

Hurricanes Gold drew Warrnambool Blue on Thursday and with no chance of playing the final, the side was looking to register a good performance to finish its carnival.

The coin fell the way of the Hurricanes and they batted first with a much better batting display from the players.

Seven of the top eight batsmen posted double figures, as Grady Bell (37) again top-scored, while Levi Templeton (22) gave the side a solid foundation at the top of the order, as the side finished with 9-165 from its allotted overs.

Myles Alderman gave his team the perfect start to the defence of their total, as Darcy Milne held onto a catch from the first ball of the innings to see the board show out a score of 1-0.

From that point on though, it was tough going with a 141-run second wicket partnership ensuring Warrnambool Blue reached 2-190 from 45 overs.

Hurricanes Green didn’t get any favours from the draw master as it drew Warrnambool Gold in the final round and the bowlers again struggled to take wickets against the opposition top order as it finished with 4-272 with Casey, Hintum, Logan, and Lehmann grabbing a scalp each but the whole attack maintain a disciplined line and length throughout.

The Green team struggled in its run chase, with Theo Lehmann (23) scoring the bulk of the team’s runs, as no other batsmen scored more than seven.

The final wicket fell with the scoreboard showing 10-49, as Samuel Wareham finished with 7-3 from five overs to be the chief destroyer.

Hamilton Gold was scheduled to face Horsham at Coughlin Park on Friday, while Hamilton Green was up against Portland at Dudley Cornell Park.